The search for profit comes to mind as well. The ego of leaders, who built things like pyramids too. Concentrations of capital have a lot of nefarious effects

The search for profit comes to mind as well. The ego of leaders, who built things like pyramids too. Concentrations of capital have a lot of nefarious effects on the well-being of population but make some grand projects possible that would not be otherwise possible. I mean, the Saudi crown prince does have a 500 billion (not a typo) plan to create a fully automated city from scratch (project NEOM). Wars help states concentrate capital quickly, but other motives have advanced technology in history.